Aluminum-extruded frame structure

ABSTRACT

A frame includes an aluminum-extruded body having top, middle, and bottom sections, which are integrally connected together in a vertical direction. The top section forms a top channel having two spaced racks mounted thereto by webs respectively. Each web defines a slit. The bottom section forms a bottom cannel having two spaced side wall extending therefrom, and each side wall forms a rib. The top and bottom sections are connected by the middle section therebetween and sideways extend beyond the middle section to form a slot for receiving and holding a slide rail therein. The ribs and the slits are formed and positioned in such a way that the ribs of the frame are slidably engageable with the slits of an identical frame positioned just under the frame so as to expand the frame.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a frame serving as a partition or a support that holds a slide rail of for example a withdrawable support tray or a work cart, and in particular to an aluminum-extruded frame that can be easily coupled or jointed to each other for expansion.

2. The Related Art

A lot of devices that use slide rails are available in the market, such as work carts or a withdrawable support tray, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 1A. In a general assembling process of the conventional slide rails, which are designated by reference numeral 2 a in the drawings, the rails 2 a are riveted to an outer panel or a support panel 3 a one by one to allow withdrawable members to move therealong for withdrawal. Such a process, however, is very troublesome and labor consuming, with very low economic efficiency.

Thus, the present invention is aimed to overcome the drawback and ensure assembling and operation efficiency of slide rails.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An objective of the present invention is to provide a frame that is made of aluminum extrusion and having top and bottom sections having means to releasably joint each other for expansion of the frame and the top and bottom sections forming a slot therebetween for receiving and retaining a slide rail therein to simplify the installation of the slide rail.

To realize the above objectives, in accordance with the present invention, there is provided a frame comprising an aluminum-extruded body having top, middle, and bottom sections, which are integrally connected together in a vertical direction. The top section forms a top channel having two spaced racks mounted thereto by webs respectively. Each web defines a slit. The bottom section forms a bottom cannel having two spaced side wall extending therefrom, and each side wall forms a rib. The top and bottom sections are connected by the middle section therebetween and sideways extend beyond the middle section to form a slot for receiving and holding a slide rail therein. The ribs and the slits are formed and positioned in such a way that the ribs of the frame are slidably engageable with the slits of an identical frame positioned just under the frame so as to expand the frame.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art by reading the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, with reference to the attached drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a conventional way for installing slide rails to for example an outside panel of a work cart;

FIG. 1A is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 1;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a frame constructed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2A is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 2;

FIG. 2B is an end view of the frame of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing two frames of the present invention connected together by jointing a bottom section of an upper one of the frames to a top section of a lower one of the frames;

FIG. 3A is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4 also shows two frames connected together, similar to FIG. 3, but taken in a different perspective;

FIG. 4A is an end view of the two frames of FIG. 4;

FIG. 4B is a side elevational view of the two frames of FIG. 4;

FIG. 5 is perspective view showing a plurality of frames of the present invention mounted to for example an outside panel of a work cart to support and retain slide rails of the work cart;

FIG. 5A is an enlarged view of a circled portion of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing a work cart in which the frames of the present invention are employed to retain slide rails that slidably support withdrawable member.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to the drawings and in particular to FIGS. 2, 2A, and 2B, an aluminum-extruded frame constructed in accordance with the present invention, generally designated with reference numeral 1, is shown. The frame 1 is comprised of top, middle, and bottom sections integrally formed with each other. The top section forms an enclosed top channel 11 having a top wall to which two rack members 12 are attached. Each rack member 12 is connected to the top wall of the top channel 11 by a web (not labeled) in which a slit 12 a, 12 b is defined just below the rack member 12. The middle section of the frame 1 is composed of three consecutive channels 13 integrated with a vertically stacked over each other. The bottom section of the frame 1 comprises an enclosed bottom channel 15 that is substantially symmetric with respect to the top channel 11 and the top and bottom channels 11, 15 are sized to project beyond the middle section sideways so as to delimit a slot 14 of which a bottom is defined by the three vertically stacked, consecutive channels 13 of the middle section. The bottom channel 15 has a bottom wall on which two spaced walls are formed, each forming a rib 15 a, 15 b on an inside surface thereof. The spacing between the walls is substantially corresponding to two rack members 12 so that the spacing between the walls is sufficient to receive the rack members 12 of another identical frame 1 therein with the ribs 15 a, 15 b slidably received in the slits 12 a, 12 b to thereby joint the two frames 1 together.

Also referring to FIGS. 3, 3A, 4, 4A, and 4B, the frame 1 of the present invention can be expanded by serially jointing two or more frames 1 together in a top-to-bottom manner. As mentioned previously, the ribs 15 a, 15 b of the bottom section of a first frame 1 are receivingly engageable with the slits 12 a, 12 b of a second, identical frame 10 that is positioned under the first frame 1, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 3A. In this way, the bottom section of the first frame 1 is jointed to the top section of the second frame 10 and the two frames 1, 10 can be movable with respect to each other with the ribs 15 a, 15 b sliding along the slits 12 a, 12 b, as illustrated in FIGS. 4, 4A, and 4B.

To install a slide rail 2 of a work cart, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 5A, the rail 2 that is constructed to correspond in size and outline to the slot 14 delimited by the top and bottom sections of each frame 1 or 10 is positioned into the slot 14 and held in position therein so that withdrawal of a withdrawable member supported on the rail 2 can be effected, as shown in FIG. 6.

To this point, it is apparent that the present invention features the following advantages:

(1) The frame of the present invention can be easily manufactured and installed, and can cooperate with slide rails for withdrawable members, incorporated in fore example a work cart or a support tray to simplify the installation operation of the slide rails.

(2) The frame of the present invention can function as a partition board for it can be easily expanded by jointing consecutive ones of the frame to suit the requirement for covering any area or space and is thus flexible.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to the preferred embodiment with reference to the drawings thereof, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that a variety of modifications and changes may be made without departing from the scope of the present invention which is intended to be defined by the appended claims. 

1. A frame comprising an aluminum-extruded body comprising top, middle, and bottom sections, which are integrally connected together in a given direction, the top section forming a top channel having two spaced racks mounted thereto by webs respectively, each web defining a slit, the bottom section forming a bottom cannel having two spaced side wall extending therefrom, each side wall forming a rib, the top and bottom sections being connected by the middle section therebetween, wherein the ribs and the slits are formed and positioned in such a way that the ribs of the frame are slidably engageable with the slits of an identical frame positioned just under the frame.
 2. The frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the middle section comprises a plurality of consecutive channel integrally connected to each other and the top and bottom sections are mounted to opposite ends of the middle section and sideways extending beyond the middle section to define therebetween a slot adapted to receive and hold a slide rail therein.
 3. The frame as claimed in claim 1, wherein the top section is jointed to the bottom section of the identical frame to expand the frame to serve as a partition of adjustable surface area. 